Marriott Pere Marquette opening delay will cost developer

(MCT) PEORIA, Ill — An additional delay in the opening of the Marriott Pere Marquette apparently will cost the project’s developer some more cash.

EM Properties could owe the city more than $160,000 if the Pere Marquette opens as late as June, as the project manager suggested earlier this week. The delay to which Monte Brannan referred is the second to affect the Pere Marquette, which in December 2011 closed for renovations.

According to an agreement between EM Properties and the city, the project was to have been completed by March 1. Thereafter, a $41,000 monthly payment is due the city.

Last September, the projected opening date was moved to sometime in April.

“I think from the very beginning, the project team stated it was going to be difficult to make that number,” City Manager Patrick Urich said Tuesday about the initial deadline.

Unexpected issues related to the age of the hotel, which dates from the 1920s, helped lead to the delay, Brannan indicated.

The $41,000 payments are not prorated within each month, Urich said. If the hotel isn’t open on the first day of the month, the fee is assessed.

EM Properties has been paying some expenses from $29 million the city raised through a bond sale, according to Urich. It’s likely the additional monthly late charge will be deducted from those draws.

“If they ask us in an upcoming month for $2 million, we can give them $2 million, less $41,000,” Urich said.

The additional money likely will remain in the bond fund, Urich indicated.

The Pere Marquette renovations are part of the three-pronged Downtown hotel project. A new parking deck at Fulton and Monroe streets is to open this week. Adjacent to the deck and the hotel is to be a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, slated to open in 2014.

The cost of the entire project is estimated to be about $93 million. About $44 million appears dedicated to the Pere Marquette, the parking deck and a pedestrian bridge that is to connect the complex with the Civic Center.

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Nick Vlahos can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.